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A California woman convicted of murder and imprisoned for 17 years was freed Friday, after her conviction was overturned.
Susan Marie Mellen was wrongly convicted over the killing of her ex-boyfriend, Richard Daly, at a Lawndale home in 1997.
The body of Richard James Daly was found burning in an alley. He was bound, gagged and had been beaten with a hammer.
Mellen, who is a mother of three, was freed thanks to Innocence Matters, which worked on her behalf.
“I’m so overwhelmed,” Mellen said after leaving the courthouse Friday evening. “It’s just so amazing, it’s just huge.”
Mellen said she never gave up faith that the conviction would be overturned.
“I told the judge the day I got sentenced, I said ‘One day God will bring the truth to the light,” she said. “I never gave up. . .. My kids kept me strong because I knew they were doing good.”
Judge Arnold said Mellen’s conviction was based on the false testimony of a woman named June Patti, who told authorities that Mellen had confessed to the murder.
Patti was known to make up stories and her own sister, a police officer, called her, “probably the biggest liar I’ve ever met in my life.”
Patti’s testimony was also contradicted by the coroner’s report, yet these issues did not come up at trial.
Agencies/Canadajournal
